Her Hope (On Hold)

[ Chapter Six ]

"198...199...200!" I exclaimed in relief, falling to the ground with beads of sweat oozing out of my pores as my chest heaved up and down at a rapid and alarming rate.

I took a moment to catch my breath before I slowly stood up, resting my hands on my knees and peering at my watch, 5:30 am. I smirked, still having plenty of time to spare.

I decided to quickly stretch my legs and positioned myself in front of the human cloned dummy.

It was a unusual site, but nevertheless, still exhilarating to use.

I began furiously kicking the object, my movements ranging from all heights and force. When I was content enough, I twirled and kicked the side of the dummies head with as much energy as I could muster, watching in satisfaction as it momentarily deflated by my blow.

"Rip to whoever pisses you off." I dryly chuckled at the comment, promptly calculating who the voice belonged to.

I glanced over my shoulder at an extremely exhausted looking Christian, his blonde bedhead exceptionally evident.

"What made you wake up so early?" I pondered, returning to my previous stance.

"Elle, it's 7." He frowned, groggily rubbing his left eye as a yawn escaped his lips. "We have school in an hour."

I felt my eyes widen slightly, my eyes snapping to my watch. 7 am.

How in the hell did the time manage to go by so quickly? I asked myself before swiftly grasping onto the towel I brought along with me.

"Shit!" I muttered under my breath, rolling my eyes at the flat laughter that soon followed my statement.

• • •

I drove around the school parking lot, completely flustered and irritated by the lack of luck I was receiving while looking for an available spot.

"There!" Christian jumped in his seat, eagerly pointing to a spot. I nodded in concentration, indicating for the spot until a scarlet red 3018 Dodge Challenger Demon sped into the park I had my eyes on.

I honked for a solid minute, growing more pissed off with each second that passed. When the group finally got out, I rolled down my window.

"Hey, assholes! If you ever so much as try to cut me off again, I'll ruin your precious car!" I hollered, raising my middle finger as I sped off.

"You're crazy, you know that right?" Christian spoke in astonishment after a moment of silence, watching me with a worried look as he discreetly scootered further away from me.

"Crazy? That's not even near crazy." He gulped at my abrupt response.

Eventually, we successfully found an available spot and I had never been so grateful in my life.

"I think I might start walking from now on." Christian piped in, catching up to me as we strolled past flusters of students that occupied the corridors.

"Oh please, you've seen worse drivers." I hinted at the drag races we had attended when younger, people from our mafia racing.

He grinned, ruffling my hair like I was a toddler. "True." He added, taking in my glare and choosing to wink.

*BRING BRING*

"No ditching today by the way!" He warned, a serious look on his face.

I rolled my eyes, "Whatever, dad." And then I made my way to AP English.

Upon entering the room, I realized that all of the students were already seated.

"Ms Morgan, is it?" The teacher questioned, his eyebrows furrowed. I nodded, slightly caught off guard as I clenched my jaw.

"Awesome! I'm your AP English teacher, Mr Cowen. How about you introduce yourself seeing as we weren't able to meet you yesterday!" He encouraged me to speak, a joyous expression on his face.

I turned so that I was standing front on with the class, suppressed gasps emitted all throughout the room like dominos.

"I'm Eleanor. I'm 18-years-old and...I hate it here already." I sent a fake smile to everyone in the room before choosing a random seat to sit at.

"Well, that was, sweet." He visibly cringed at his own selection of words, followed up by snickers from the students.

I rested my head in my palms when he began his lesson, trying to catch up with my sleeping schedule before a series of piercing screeches were detected from beside me.

Choosing to ignore it, I closed my eyes once again.

"Hey, mystery girl!" The moment his voice registered in my brain, I wanted to bang my head against the desk.

Is it possible to be swallowed whole by the universe just about...now?

I lifted my head, frowning as I noticed he was already staring at me with a smile.

"Weston, is it?" I queried, knowing damn well his name wasn't Weston.

"Tristian." He immediately corrected me, still grinning as if he had just won the lottery.

I nodded, turning to the front.

Everything was going perfectly fine until... "Psst!" I pretended to not hear him, acting as though I was interested in what the teacher had to say.

"Eleanorrrr!" He whispered, causing an involuntary shiver to shoot up my spine.

Keep your cool.

His foot nudged mine, and in that moment, I realized that he most likely wouldn't stop.

"What do you want?" I snapped, bitting the inside of my cheek when a smug smirk lifted the corner of his lips. It only annoyed me further.

"I was wondering if you had anyone to show you around the school? Like...a tour guide!" I felt relieved when his smirk dissolved into a genuine smile.

Which I never thought I would say.

"I already have someone." I told him truthfully, shrugging my shoulders.

His mouth formed the shape of an 'O' before he faced the front.

"Are you sure?" He quickly piped in, his eyebrows knitted together.

"Yes Tristian, I'm positive." I sent him a reassuring nod, unable to understand how he could possibly talk so much.

"Also, can I call you Ellie?" He politely asked, a soft smile painted on his lips.

I was completely prepared to say no when my mouth went on its own accord and blurted out, "Sure."

He send me a goofy grin, facing the front without another word uttered as I spent the rest of the period scolding myself.

• • •

Here's chapter sixxxx! I actually don't have much to say here for once sooo...

Don't forget to vote and comment if you enjoyed! :)

xo